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Ford and Mercury SUVs at Purvis Ford in Spotsylvania County are hot items. Surging gas prices and lower gas mileage for the bigger vehicles haven't driven away local customers.
Pat and Ken Lane of Mount Holly, in the Northern Neck, talk with |
BECKY AND TONY Lovelace want a 2004 Lincoln Navi- gator.
The Stafford County pair covet the full-size sport utility vehicle's GPS navigation system, the rear entertainment system--which includes a DVD player--and the sheer roominess and power of the luxury vehicle.
They aren't going to let a little thing like paying $2 for a gallon of gas faze them.
"It's not a concern," said Becky Lovelace, who was out on the lot at Purvis Ford with her husband earlier this week, eyeing a dark blue Navigator.
That doesn't surprise Dave Eadie, sales manager for Purvis Ford at Four-Mile Fork.
Eadie said SUVs have continued to sell well, despite rising gas prices. Purvis sells about 40 SUVs a month, and that pace hasn't slowed.
Regular unleaded gas prices locally are nearing $2 a gallon--and crossing that mark at some stations.
While many drivers are concerned about paying more at the pump, most people who are in the market for SUVs, particularly the luxury models, aren't worried.
That may change, however, according to a survey on prices from Edmunds.com, a consumer Web site that offers unbiased automobile information.
The Web site's Edmund Price Index found that prices for new cars had increased 2.4 percent from last April to this April, according to a press release.
Compact cars saw the largest price increase, the release states. However, SUVs saw the largest decline, of about 1.5 percent.
"Although we have yet to see a flood of consumers trading in their large SUVs or trucks for smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, our analysis of 16 different vehicle segments clearly displays a relative weakening of demand for larger, less fuel-efficient vehicles," Dr. Jane Liu, vice president of data analysis for Edmunds.com, said in the release.
Eadie said he isn't that worried yet.
He's had only one customer in the past three months who went from an Exhibition to an Explorer. Eadie said he wasn't even sure if gas prices were a factor in that decision.
"The trucks, big SUVs are going bigger than ever," he said.
The news was about the same at Ron Rosner Toyota on the U.S. 1 Bypass, according to sales manager Tony Long.
He said their customers buy Toyotas because of their reputation and performance. Most customers don't seem concerned about the gas prices, he said.
"It goes up, it comes down. It will come back down again," he said.
That's Tony Lovelace's feeling. He's planning to trade in his Lexus GS300 sedan for the Lincoln Navigator.
"It will drop one day," he said of gas prices.
Of course, not everyone is as unconcerned about gas mileage.
Pamela Ellis, a Fredericksburg resident who commutes three days a week to her job as a medical secretary at Inova Fairfax Hospital, bought a 2004 Toyota Corolla at Rosner this week.
She said the car's price and its fuel economy were the main reasons for her decision.
It recently cost her about $23 to fill up the tank in her 1997 Volkswagen Jetta. She's hoping the new Corolla will save her some money at the pump.
"It's just too much money filling the tank up," she said.
Still, Rosner hasn't seen a decline in SUV or truck sales. They've sold 50 so far this month.
Hybrids also have been big sellers on local lots, dealers said.
The 2004 Toyota Prius has been very popular, Long said. Most of the buyers are commuters who want to use the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes without carrying extra passengers, he said.
Every once in awhile, he said, Rosner will have a customer who is primarily concerned about fuel efficiency.
Rosner has also gotten a lot of interest in its 2005 Toyota Highlander hybrid, Long said.
Eadie said Purvis Ford has seen a lot of interest in the 2005 Ford Escape hybrid. The dealership has about a dozen people signed up on a waiting list for the car, he said.
"Every day, we have people asking about that," Eadie said.
Tim Curtis, general manager at Bill Britt Mazda and Volkswagen, said he thinks rising gas prices are having an impact on sales.
Sales have been rising steadily for their diesel-engine models, he said.
Diesel engines, which can get 44 to 47 miles per gallon, are offered in Passats, Beetles, Jettas and Golfs, he said.
"Those diesel products, we can't keep them in stock," he said. "They are flying out of here because people want that gas mileage."
To reach KIM ANDERSON: 540/374-5434 kanderson@freelancestar.com
